AKS AT BUDAPEST CENTRAL EUROPEAN FASHION WEEK PRESENTED BY BALINT NEMES
This October I had the opportunity to have my work showcased by the famous Hungarian photographer and modelling agency manager Bálint Nemes at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Budapest from 11—17 October 2021. Bálint is an associate with whom I occasionally do photoshoots (when pandemic conditions allow), and he introduced me with a photo we made together featuring earrings that I co-designed with the Imprint Official jewellery brand. The overall concept of this exhibition was the topical theme of "How designers survived Covid," and a short account written by the designers about how they made it through the pandemic period accompanied each presentation. You can read my story below:
"My name is Anna Kristyna Sion and I’m a jewellery designer based in Prague, Czech Republic. I produce jewellery in cooperation with master jewellers in Prague as well as in Bangkok, Thailand. Surprisingly enough, 2020, the first year of COVID, was a great year for me. The whole pandemic situation was completely new for all of us – at least in Europe. Nobody knew what to expect, and I guess people believed it would all be over after one or two lockdowns … Thanks to these “positive” and optimistic thoughts, my business flourished. All of a sudden, customers found themselves sitting at home with much more free time on their hands, and they enjoyed surfing and shopping online. I can imagine that the garment industry experienced a huge decline, as we had nowhere to go out and show off new clothes. But as for jewellery – it was an exceptionally good year. My colleagues and I found that we commissioned the most expensive pieces during this period. Customers started to look for items that will keep their value, which they can cherish “for the rest of their lives”. The whole mood of society was like that … people were searching for things that are durable, eternal, and safe – and nothing is safer than putting your money into gold and perhaps diamonds. Therefore, I cannot complain at all about last year. Even during a tough lockdown, I managed to travel to Budapest to meet Balint and launch our collaboration. One of the negative impacts of the pandemic for me was that I couldn’t travel to Thailand to meet with dear colleagues and friends whom I used to visit at least once or twice a year.
This year is completely different. I think people have become very tired of the whole situation and no one knows what will happen next. Will we have another wave and new lockdowns? Will our shops and services be forced to close again? Due to this uncertainty, people are spending much less now. Therefore, for example, this year I’m not seeing any clients from Slovakia, and they used to make up about 85% of my clientele. Again, I find that my experience matches that of all my jewellery colleagues: our business volume has been very low this year. But despite all of this, I have not lost any of my motivation or drive, and I’m using this time to work on myself and grow. I take as many courses on jewellery production as possible, and I’m pushing forward towards my law degree. I know that after all this passes, I will come out of it stronger and more ready than before to start a “new life after COVID” again."
Bálint and Maria Nemes, presenting our photography of Bianca Pesti wearing "The Crown Earrings" I co-designed with Imprint Official
Bálint, thank you so much for inviting me present at this wonderful fashion event. I have to admit that I don’t attend Prague Fashion Week or other fashion week events in the Czech Republic because I don’t feel these events are in the same class as the fashion weeks organized in other countries ... YET. But it was clear at first sight that BCEFW is a world class fashion event and I'm so grateful to you for inviting me to participate.
Sending kisses and hugs from Prague to Budapest :-* AKS
You can read more about BCEFW here https://bcefw.com/
You can follow Bálint here:
Leave a comment